Bonnet alignment/gap query

[Paul Henley]

Hi All
I popped into the body shop today to check on progress on my 240Z and the panel guy highlighted a potential problem. The issue concerns the panel gap between the edge of the bonnet and windscreen cowl panel. When the bonnet is closed, the outer edges of the bonnet sit level with the cowel panel on their adjusters, but in the centre of the bonnet (the bulge area) there is a noticeable gap between the bonnet and the cowel panel that to us doesn’t look like it should be there? This suggests that either the bonnet is damaged/raised in the middle or the cowel is low in the middle, however both panels appear undamaged? Can someone confirm if this gap should be there or not and on the assumption it shouldn’t be then any experience/advice on removing the gap in the middle? I’ve attached a pic to try and demonstrate the gap.
Thanks in advance for any help
Paul

 

[jonbills]

Mine has something similar - level at the outsides and the bonnet 1 or 2 mm higher in the middle section.

I think it would be fixable with appropriate spacers under the centre 2 screw holes to lift it up.

 

[Paul Henley]

Thanks for the pic Jon and the comments. I've been thinking the height that the bonnet sticks above the cowl panel will be fixed and determined by the height of the bonnet latch once the bonnet is fully closed. Once closed it might pull the center of the bonnet down just that little bit further to align better with the cowl panel. I'm also conscious of your comment regarding lifting the cowl center fastening screws to give it that little bit of further adjustment. I have a spare bonnet that I'm planning on taking back with me in an attempt to prove to myself that there isn't an issue with the bonnet. It wouldn't do any harm to take a copy of the picture that you provided tor the discussion I'll have with the panel beater. Thanks again for taking the time to take/post the picture, much appreciated.

 

[johnymd]

The outside edges of the bonnet are set with the 2 rubber adjustable stops. When these are set to the correct height for outside edge height, the centre will be held down slightly with the catch to the correct centre height. To me this sounds like the ideal condition as the bonnet then won't rattle of move around.

 

[status]

Think it could be a case of just fettling it until it's there which can be time consuming

 

[Paul Henley]

The adjusters on the edges of the bonnet seem to have the bonnet sitting at the right height, just need to fit the latch and see if that holds the center edge down in line with the cowl panel, Cheers Paul